The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis and referred to by the cultivar name Pemba.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aabyhoj, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program was to create new Osteospermum cultivars with interesting ray floret colors.
The new cultivar originated from a cross made by the Inventor in 1995 of a proprietary selection of Osteospermum ecklonis identified as 9511 as the female, or seed, parent and a proprietary selection of Osteospermum ecklonis identified as 9524 as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Osteospermum was selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of this cross in a controlled environment in Aabyhoj, Denmark, in 1996.
Plants of the new cultivar are different from plants of the female parent, the selection 9511, in ray floret color.
Plants of the new Osteospermum are different from plants of the male parent, the selection 9524, in plant size and coloration of lower surface of ray florets.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings at Aabyhoj, has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Pembaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Pembaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright plant habit.
2. Numerous inflorescences per plant.
3. Spoon-shaped dark pink ray florets with blue disc florets.
The new cultivar can be compared to the Osteospermum cultivar Sunny Sonja, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,341. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Encinitas, Calif., plants of the new cultivar are taller; more freely branching; have more numerous but smaller leaves; are more floriferous; and have longer peduncles than plants of the cultivar Sunny Sonja.
The cultivar Pemba has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.